Show Notes
Andfoods isn’t trying to win the plant-based food battle in the supermarket aisle. It wants raving fans in Asia’s busiest kitchens. The New Zealand startup is turning black gram, also known as black mung bean, into whipping cream. Its pitch to chefs is that dairy-free shouldn’t mean settling for second best. On this week’s episode of The Business of Tech, co-founder Alex Devereux explains why winning over the person holding the whisk could be a smarter business than chasing shoppers. Devereux learned the food service trade at Fonterra, supplying ingredients to businesses where taste, consistency and price determine whether a product earns its place in the fridge. After leaving dairy for technology roles, an invitation from Icehouse brought him to Massey University’s Riddet Institute. There, he and fellow Fonterra alumnus Leon Clement tasted a plant-based whipping cream that stood out. “We knew the markets, we knew the dynamics and what customers were looking for in that kind of product,” he says. The science tackles an awkward problem: beans taste like beans. Replicating the taste and texture of dairy Riddet researchers developed a fermentation process that strips out those sharp flavours while retaining black gram’s natural creaminess and ability to foam. Combined with coconut oil and other ingredients, it becomes a cream that, Devereux says, delivers dairy-like taste and texture. There’s a practical selling point, too. He says the whipped cream holds its shape longer in hot conditions, a useful attribute for cakes and desserts in tropical markets. But clever science doesn’t automatically win kitchen space. Andfoods employs a chef in Singapore to demonstrate the product alongside its distributor. The aim is to talk chef to chef, showing how it performs rather than delivering a sales pitch. “Chef-led sales is the most effective way to win this type of business,” Devereux says. Get the product right and customers tend to stick around, without the marketing bill needed to build a supermarket brand. Andfoods has secured Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands as a customer, with Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand on its expansion list. Its model also departs from the familiar Kiwi export recipe: retain research and intellectual property here, but manufacture in China, closer to customers. Having raised $4 million, Andfoods is seeking another $7m to fund growth, with culinary cream and cold foam products in development. The ambition isn’t simply to replace dairy. It’s to become the cream chefs choose. Listen to Alex Devereux on The Business of Tech streaming on iHeartRadio, Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
More from The SME Stream
Inflation is still much higher than it should be, largely because of high global oil prices. Stats NZ data shows the rate's now on 3.7%, down from 4.1% three months ago. Domestic non-tradeable inflation —for things like housing, electricity, and healthcare— has been trending down. Internationally-driven tradeable inflation —for things we import and export— has dipped, after trending up. But NZ Herald Business Editor at Large Liam Dann told Kerre Woodham economists are forecasting anywhere up to 4.7% inflation for the December quarter, which is pretty ugly. He says even if the Reserve Bank were to look through the impact of oil prices, the Consumer Price Index would still rise around 3.2%, which they can't ignore. Dann says it's one of the reasons economists expect them to hike interest rates. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We may be at a turning point when it comes to property investment. Cotality data shows residential property is worth $1.66 trillion and still accounts for more than 50% of all household assets. But it also shows property sales and values are largely subdued. Chief Property Economist Kelvin Davidson told Kerre Woodham over the last couple of decades, strong capital gains and low interest rates were a big driver for the housing market. He says mortgage costs went down and selling provided capital gains as well, but this potentially won't last into the future. Davidson says property investment will probably need to be done a little bit differently, focusing on active management and cash flow rather than relying on capital gains. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Inflation's eased up slightly - but it's also become more persistent and widespread. The official inflation rate has fallen in the past three months - from 4.1 percent to 3.7 percent - due to a brief fall in fuel prices. But underlying core inflation has been rising and more items are increasing in price. Labour's Finance Spokesperson Barbara Edmonds told Francesca Rudkin the government doesn't have a plan to tackle the rising prices. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
National and Labour are offering quite different solutions to persistently high inflation. Headline inflation's eased back to 3.7%, but some economists say it could reach as high as 4.7% by the end of the year. Labour's Barbara Edmonds says freezing the fuel tax would address the single biggest factor – surging fuel prices. But National's Nicola Willis told Mike Hosking National would address the other two major factors – rates and electricity. She says they will push ahead with rates caps and continue consenting new energy projects. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Auckland Business Chamber CEO Simon Bridges says politically, the Mood of the Boardroom shows a "tactical draw" between National and Labour. The survey of business leaders shows dissatisfaction and a desire for more investment in infrastructure, reform, leadership and talk of productivity, Bridges told Ryan Bridge. "Because you'd expect, and they are in their numbers, the Nats as a centre right incumbent government to be higher up, I would sort of call it a tactical draw between the Nats and Labour when you look at this closely." Unease about "the tail wagging the dog" with minor parties gaining more power in the future government is also present. "This is a very small sliver of business. It's the top end of town, let alone it being the electorate... "They've got a very clear view about what they like. They tend to like stability, certainty, an incumbent government over change that might be messy and uncertain." The former National Party leader said no result in the upcoming election would surprise him. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.